Hope?

[Ian]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/tvs-is-said-to-mull-bid-for-classic-u-k-motorcycle-brand-norton

For those who don't know...TVS build the small capacity BMWs (G310R/GS), Versions of the Apache.... Interesting article I thought.

[Richard]

Sadly, its only a name - and a very tarnished one at that.

[Ian]

https://www.visordown.com/news/industry/tvs-look-have-begun-purchase-norton

[Moto63]

Fingers crossed they can make a better job of it than that prat Garner did 😡

[Smithy]

According to the guy I mentioned on youtube TVS have done the deal with Norton for 16 million quid but this does not include the liabilities towards the pensioners Garner has ripped off. Garner also sold the rights and tooling for the 916 (961?) engine to a Chinese company in a separate deal so I suppose TVS will have to develop the Atlas and Ranger engine or start a new project.

To be honest and this is just my view obviously but with Triumph moving production to Thailand or wherever and now Norton split between China and India and AJS being just a vehicle for yet another Chinese 125 I wish they would just let these venerable old names die out. Like the Harris Matchless (which I do think is one of the loveliest bikes ever made). It just seems to me a bit ghoulish like parading grandad even though he was embalmed years ago.

Ian

[Moto63]

To be honest and this is just my view obviously but with Triumph moving production to Thailand or wherever and now Norton split between China and India and AJS being just a vehicle for yet another Chinese 125 I wish they would just let these venerable old names die out. Like the Harris Matchless (which I do think is one of the loveliest bikes ever made). It just seems to me a bit ghoulish like parading grandad even though he was embalmed years ago.

Ian

Yes I couldn’t agree more Ian 👍....
Cheers, Michael

[CrazyFrog]

Yes, I agree too...

[Oldtimer]

I think we [GREAT BRITAIN] should start, after this pandemic is over, with a new motorcycle with a new name that WILL be a world beater with 100% British components. Weve done it before lets show the world we are GREAT again. I'll go back to sleep now.

[themoudie]

Quote from Rocket Garage article, 2nd last paragraph:

"Rothschild and Co. served as the financial advisor while legal assistance in the deal was provided by Khaitan & Co., and Slaughter and May. Shares of TVS Motor Company, which have fallen 36 percent this year, closed 9 percent higher today ahead of the deal announcement."

Another load of financial shenanigans! Cynical sod!

Good health, Bill

[Ian]

I'm just hoping that the employees and pension holders come out of this quagmire with some dignity and cash. The pension fund seems to be at the heart of the issues but who knows the full truth. I doubt TVS will be liable. Seems that shy ster who caused all the problems will come out of this not squeaky clean but escaping due punishment. British justice rides again!

[Smithy]

Thanks guys. Ian you are so right it is those poor buggers who have lost their pensions who are the real victims. Apparently the deal with TVS does not include any liability for those debts. Only if they can catch Garner and make a prosecution stick and he has assets to cover the debt does it seem they will get repaid. What an absolute bastard.

Ian

[johnr]

the pensioners havent a hope in hell of getting their money back. remember this isnt the norton pension scheme that he has fleeced, these are individual pensioners who have no link to norton at all, but who were persuaded by a clever pensions salesman to take their money out of the pension schemes that they were using and persuaded to invest that money in another scheme that itself invested money in the pyramid scheme that norton motors had become. its sad, but these people were stupid. they were conned because of smarmy sales pitches and simple human greed. someone told them that the pension they had could make them more money if they shifted it. throughout history gullable people have fallen prey to the simple ploy that all you need to do is convince them that something will make them rich. and unfortunately nobody even considered that if something sounds too good to be true, thats almost always because it is. people deserve to go to jail for this, and i feel sorry for those who gambled and lost, but where do you draw the line protecting people from themselves? any enquiry to the pensions regulator, and i mean ANY enquiry, would have raised a red flag over this scheme, but nobody questioned the guy selling the idea that he would make you rich if only you trusted him with all your money........

[Moto63]

its sad, but these people were stupid. they were conned because of smarmy sales pitches and simple human greed.  people deserve to go to jail for this, and i feel sorry for those who gambled and lost, but where do you draw the line protecting people from themselves?

i totally agree with you John, If you don’t fully understand what it is you’re dealing with stick with what you’ve got and be happy. I know a bloke who got paid out £70,000 about 20 years ago after a serious accident. He lost £50,000 of that money with six months because he “invested “ it in some shares in a “dead cert” business. The company folded with 3 weeks. Money gone. All because of his greed.

[johnr]

and i dont want to seem heartless saying stuff like this, if you dont understand finance, theres only one thing you need to do. treat every person that you encounter as though they want to steal all your money. because to be honest, you probably will be right more than you are wrong. its still true that if something seems too good to be true, then thats because it is. theres no magic money tree. if a fund promises massive financial gains, ask why the person selling it hasnt sunk all their own money into it, if they say they have ask for proof, if they show you proof, theyre lying, nobody thinks of using themselves as evidence that what they say is true. every week we see or hear of some new pension scam stripping folks retirement funds away and its never anything that anyone with an ounce of nouse wouldnt look at and think, 'its a fucking con' and yet folks still fall for this stuff.

[mthee]

Agreed. And it's not only a get rich pitch that works. My dad got conned with a promised rate of return on his investment which was over the going rate, but not massively. He made enquiries, but did not go to the regulating body, much to his regret.